Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Like in Deborah Feldman's Unorthodox and Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief, journalist Emily Brady journeys into a unique, secretive subculture — a place that marijuana built.

Say the words "Humboldt County" to a stranger and you might receive a knowing grin. Humboldt is a narrative exploration of this infamous and insular community in Northern California that has existed primarily on the cultivation and sale of marijuana for decades. It's a place where business is done with thick wads of cash and savings are buried in plastic pickle barrels in the backyard.

In Humboldt, marijuana supports everything from fire departments to schools, but it comes with a heavy price. As legalization looms, the community stands at a crossroads and its inhabitants are deeply split on the issue — some want to claim their rightful heritage as master growers, others want to continue reaping the inflated profits of the black market. Emily Brady spent a year living in this highly secretive community so that she could take readers inside this virtually unknown world of eccentric characters that is undergoing a radical transformation while teetering on the edge of legality.

Review:

"In a rare journalistic feat, Emily Brady burrowed deep inside an infamous subculture and emerged with a luminous but haunting dispatch about a secretive community of outlaw pot growers — some of whom would rather risk their lives than see their profits crushed by the decriminalization of cannabis. Brady's brave reporting pulls no punches yet makes no judgments as she chronicles four people torn by their allegiances to a place that represents the beauty and ruthlessness of the modern American frontier — and the hypocrisy of the country's drug policy. Humboldt is a triumph of immersion reporting: vivid, compassionate, maddening and unforgettable." Jonathan Schuppe, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of A Chance to Win

Review:

"Emily Brady escorts you into the redwood-studded mountains of northern California where a secretive marijuana culture thrives — for now — outside the law. Deeply reported and populated with vibrant characters spanning generations, Humboldt documents the real lives behind America's favorite high. A fascinating and timely read." David Kinney, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of The Big One

Review:

"Emily Brady has written a terrifically gripping book about America's confused relationship with marijuana. A tour-de-force of investigative journalism, Brady takes us inside the world of pot growers in God's own country, and illuminates the policy issues around legalization in a series of beautifully rendered character portraits." Suketu Mehta, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

Review:

"In her vivid, hypnotic Humboldt, Emily Brady brings the notoriously secretive pot-growing community of Northern California to life through the lives of four very different Humboldters, whose nuanced stories form together like wisps of smoke." Julian Rubinstein, author of the international bestseller Ballad of the Whiskey Robber

Review:

"Emily Brady has written a masterful opus dopus — to borrow a phrase from her book — chronicling the dreams and struggles of a community that has become infamous worldwide for their controversial cash crop. In Humboldt, she takes a clear-eyed look at the marijuana industry: its growers, trimmers, dealers, and family-run businesses. Readers will come away with a newfound and nuanced understanding of pot, but this is really a book about people whose outrageous, funny, and heartbreaking stories you won't soon forget." Brooke Hauser, author of The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens

Review:

"In her book Humboldt, Emily Brady takes us on a rowdy off-road trip into the homeland of marijuana moonshining, where pit bulls guard the fields, cash fills up holes in the ground, and it's a bad idea to ask anyone you encounter what they do for a living." Bruce Porter, New York Times bestselling author of Blow

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

yuma1, June 30, 2013 (view all comments by yuma1)
What is life really like in the marijuana growing culture of northern California? Why didn't this liberal state legalize marijuana when given the opportunity? Questions like this are answered in Emily Brady's very readable book about the marijuana frontier and the individuals inhabiting it. Her writing from several unique individuals' viewpoints make the account very readable, almost novel-like.

"Review"
by Jonathan Schuppe, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of A Chance to Win,
"In a rare journalistic feat, Emily Brady burrowed deep inside an infamous subculture and emerged with a luminous but haunting dispatch about a secretive community of outlaw pot growers — some of whom would rather risk their lives than see their profits crushed by the decriminalization of cannabis. Brady's brave reporting pulls no punches yet makes no judgments as she chronicles four people torn by their allegiances to a place that represents the beauty and ruthlessness of the modern American frontier — and the hypocrisy of the country's drug policy. Humboldt is a triumph of immersion reporting: vivid, compassionate, maddening and unforgettable."

"Review"
by David Kinney, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of The Big One,
"Emily Brady escorts you into the redwood-studded mountains of northern California where a secretive marijuana culture thrives — for now — outside the law. Deeply reported and populated with vibrant characters spanning generations, Humboldt documents the real lives behind America's favorite high. A fascinating and timely read."

"Review"
by Suketu Mehta, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found,
"Emily Brady has written a terrifically gripping book about America's confused relationship with marijuana. A tour-de-force of investigative journalism, Brady takes us inside the world of pot growers in God's own country, and illuminates the policy issues around legalization in a series of beautifully rendered character portraits."

"Review"
by Julian Rubinstein, author of the international bestseller Ballad of the Whiskey Robber,
"In her vivid, hypnotic Humboldt, Emily Brady brings the notoriously secretive pot-growing community of Northern California to life through the lives of four very different Humboldters, whose nuanced stories form together like wisps of smoke."

"Review"
by ,
"Emily Brady has written a masterful opus dopus — to borrow a phrase from her book — chronicling the dreams and struggles of a community that has become infamous worldwide for their controversial cash crop. In Humboldt, she takes a clear-eyed look at the marijuana industry: its growers, trimmers, dealers, and family-run businesses. Readers will come away with a newfound and nuanced understanding of pot, but this is really a book about people whose outrageous, funny, and heartbreaking stories you won't soon forget." Brooke Hauser, author of The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens

"Review"
by Bruce Porter, New York Times bestselling author of Blow,
"In her book Humboldt, Emily Brady takes us on a rowdy off-road trip into the homeland of marijuana moonshining, where pit bulls guard the fields, cash fills up holes in the ground, and it's a bad idea to ask anyone you encounter what they do for a living."

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